Out and About: The Big Blue

So me and Jolie decided only to stay the night in Slab City, since she wanted to be back in LA earlier to take care of some stuff before her flight. So as we walked back to our camp, we got barked at by some dogs, an awesome view of the sunset, met our nearest neighbor Steve, who offered to drive us back to Niland in the morning, and went to bed. '

Can't beat that sunset

A quiet morning in Slab City

    As we were crashing a pretty epic windstorm came through and gave my tent a run for its money, and didn't let up until about 3 or 4 when we were finally able to get some real sleep. We were unexpectedly able to sleep in till 9 after which we packed up, said goodby to our neighbors, and rode with Steve out of Slab City, I vowed it would not be the last time I saw it.
    We ate breakfast in a small dinner called the Buckshot, a dirty place with prices that were to high. After breakfast and a quick wash up, we hit the road. A nice officer came to talk to us, asked if we were stranded. When we told him our story he said "you don't look like Slabbers", which I had to agree, we didn't. But he wasn't about to stop us, and a few minutes later we grabbed a ride with 2 young soldiers on there way to training.
    A quick ride and some pleasant talk later, we were back in Indio, with a day to kill before our bus left in the morning. A pretty boring day at that, spent mostly catching up on sleep in the local Mcdonalds. That night Jolie talked me into splitting a motel, and we took a couple of boring "not slab city" showers, and hit the hay.
    We got up and on the bus by 8:05, and it was a quiet bus and train back to LA. We went back to the Hollywood hostel, said hi to friends, got some lunch, watched an Anti Syrian war protest, I said my good byes to everyone there including Jolie, and was on my own again. The evening was spent on bus after bus, dropping me in northernmost LA. Although I had been in California for over a week now, this was my first time seeing the Ocean in years, it was awesome.

After a short break on the beach, it being to late to catch any decent ride, I went to Vaugns to buy a can to make a stove so I could cook my dinner. My persistence of looking around for celebrities finally paid off.

Couldn't you just die with jealousy

Out of my euphoria, I made my stove outside of a gas station, and walked slightly inland to find my final resting place for the night in a green belt. I kept quiet, not wanting to disturb my neighbors, made my dinner on my newly minted stove, and read a few chapters in my book before going to bed. My first cold night in days, I couldn't have slept better. Then I woke up to my beautiful view of the ocean.

That is the Ocean behind the building

A few more bus rides got me further out of town, where I snagged a ride in an RV with a fellow who never mentioned his name. He took me to Oxnard, and on the way told me many a tale that I am pretty sure were lies, him being the pinnacle of many conspiracy and corporate maneuvers, such and such.It was odd that he didn't seem crazy at all, made it hard to deny his claims that you usually hear coming out of bums in parks, not guys in HUGE campers. Well he Dropped me of in central Oxnard and I was left on an on ramp to continue my journey.

    I was out there maybe an hour before a nice police man came and tole me somebody had called about a hitch hiker on the on ramp. He then kindly told me incorrectly about California hitchhiking law, told me I had misread signs up the road (that I later found out weren't there), and basically told me not to be caught again. I took the hint, walked across the street to eat some foods, and grabbed even more buses to north Ventura.
    It was getting dark, so I set out looking to find a place to sleep. An RV down an unlit road offered me a spot for a reasonable $45 dollars a night, since it seemed obvious that a spot of dirt on the ground should cost more than a motel. They then turned helpful and told me about a free RV park down the beach a few miles, and I decided to walk instead of pay to sleep.
    Walking along the beach in the dark, I saw a light burning off to the side on the beach, I was hoping to find some beach bums who could give me the skinny on the area, maybe let me cook my food on their fire. What I found instead were Zach, Chris, and Curtis. All 23 year old residents of Ventura, who were nothing but nice and fun to hang out with, they let me cook my food and we joked and talked for some time, they then invited me to a bar with them which I gladly accepted.
    We played a few games of pool, jammed out with the jukebox, and had a grand ol time. But it was getting late and they had to work in the morning, so they drove me back to the RV park, we exchanged numbers, and then they were gone. I set up camp quick and was out like a light bulb.

In the morning a park ranger told me to move my rump, so I packed quick, hit the highway, and snagged a ride to Santa Barbra from a concert manager named Bob. Bob dropped me off in the middle of Santa Barbra with some helpful advice for getting up the coast, and here I am now, sitting in a star bucks typing. I hope to be in San Fransisco tonight, but I am not counting on it. Going up the coast is slow, and the roads are not logistically friendly for hitch hikers. But hey I am on the beach, in cool places with cool people, so I ain't complaining.